Canterbury is located approximately 55 miles southeast of London in the county of Kent. The town lies between two branches of the River Stour.
Evidence suggests that Canterbury was inhabited as far back as 3,000 BC. In AD 43 the Romans established the town as Durovernum Cantiacorum. The town fell into disrepair after the Romans fled Britain in 410 AD.
King Ethelbert of Kent made the newly renamed Cantwaraburh his home in 590 AD. He was converted to Christianity in 497 by St. Augustine, who became the first archbishop of Canterbury. In 1170 Thomas Beckett, perhaps Canterbury's best known resident, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral.
St. Augustine's Abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteris in 1636. During the English Civil War (1641-46), riots broke out as the local Puritan government banned church services on Christmas Day.
German air raids during WWII devastated Canterbury; the Baedecker Blitz cost over 100 lives and destroyed hundreds of homes and city buildings. Today Canterbury is a thriving town, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the Canterbury Cathedral) and the University of Kent.
